{"slug": "tox", "name": "Tox", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.45, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2025-11-28", "latest": "2026-08-17", "why": "", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "tox.chat", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://tox.chat", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Tox"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 789385553, "item_id": 49336597, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336597", "by": "bullen", "date": "2026-08-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Tox is the only usable network that tried this", "excerpt": "I have also put some thought to this problem and after reading some here are my definitive conclusions that still remain for all mesh networks to achieve: - We need hardware that solves radio mesh problems: Multifrequency (more than 8 bands) with programmable hopping between them (as opposed to LoRa default hopping which is random). I will use LoRa hardware for now on 169MHz to increase range and force frequency chan", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Reticulum \u2013 Decentralized Mesh Network"}, {"id": 752265488, "item_id": 47016593, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47016593", "by": "Tha_14", "date": "2026-02-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Personally I use and trust Tox.", "excerpt": "Anything that is P2P E2EE is hard to block by utilizing traditional measures. Personally I use and trust Tox. If you also want anonimity you can pair it with tor.", "context": "", "use_case": "Encrypted P2P messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Platforms bend over backward to help DHS censor ICE critics, advocates say"}, {"id": 748896369, "item_id": 46806023, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46806023", "by": "octoberfranklin", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Tox (if you're addicted to phones)", "excerpt": "Ricochet (chat via Tor .onion circuits): https://www.ricochetrefresh.net/ Tox (if you're addicted to phones): https://tox.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kash Patel says FBI is investigating Signal chats of Minnesotans tracking ICE"}, {"id": 737241280, "item_id": 46077580, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46077580", "by": "snvzz", "date": "2025-11-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Something like Tox[0] or SimpleX[1].", "excerpt": "Business, eh. Maybe it's time to go open source and fully distributed peer-to-peer. Something like Tox[0] or SimpleX[1]. The (actual) solution should be to fix legislation to adequate protect privacy, because they'll attack this next. But meantime, a technical solution is better than nothing. 0. https://tox.chat/ 1. https://simplex.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "Peer-to-peer private messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "EU Council Approves New \"Chat Control\" Mandate Pushing Mass Surveillance"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["encrypted p2p messaging", "peer-to-peer private messaging"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49325061", "title": "Reticulum \u2013 Decentralized Mesh Network", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47015406", "title": "Platforms bend over backward to help DHS censor ICE critics, advocates say", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46783254", "title": "Kash Patel says FBI is investigating Signal chats of Minnesotans tracking ICE", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46077393", "title": "EU Council Approves New \"Chat Control\" Mandate Pushing Mass Surveillance", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 789385553, "item_id": 49336597, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336597", "by": "bullen", "date": "2026-08-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Tox is the only usable network that tried this", "excerpt": "I have also put some thought to this problem and after reading some here are my definitive conclusions that still remain for all mesh networks to achieve: - We need hardware that solves radio mesh problems: Multifrequency (more than 8 bands) with programmable hopping between them (as opposed to LoRa default hopping which is random). I will use LoRa hardware for now on 169MHz to increase range and force frequency chan", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Reticulum \u2013 Decentralized Mesh Network"}, {"id": 752265488, "item_id": 47016593, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47016593", "by": "Tha_14", "date": "2026-02-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Personally I use and trust Tox.", "excerpt": "Anything that is P2P E2EE is hard to block by utilizing traditional measures. Personally I use and trust Tox. If you also want anonimity you can pair it with tor.", "context": "", "use_case": "Encrypted P2P messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Platforms bend over backward to help DHS censor ICE critics, advocates say"}, {"id": 748896369, "item_id": 46806023, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46806023", "by": "octoberfranklin", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Tox (if you're addicted to phones)", "excerpt": "Ricochet (chat via Tor .onion circuits): https://www.ricochetrefresh.net/ Tox (if you're addicted to phones): https://tox.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kash Patel says FBI is investigating Signal chats of Minnesotans tracking ICE"}, {"id": 737241280, "item_id": 46077580, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46077580", "by": "snvzz", "date": "2025-11-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Something like Tox[0] or SimpleX[1].", "excerpt": "Business, eh. Maybe it's time to go open source and fully distributed peer-to-peer. Something like Tox[0] or SimpleX[1]. The (actual) solution should be to fix legislation to adequate protect privacy, because they'll attack this next. But meantime, a technical solution is better than nothing. 0. https://tox.chat/ 1. https://simplex.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "Peer-to-peer private messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "EU Council Approves New \"Chat Control\" Mandate Pushing Mass Surveillance"}]}